Kenda Perez: People Love The Best of PRIDE

Thanks to The Best of PRIDE television show, people that didn’t follow MMA when the historic promotion was still around, get a chance to see some of the sport’s most famous and entertaining clashes. Of course, through the program, old school fans also get a chance to relive classic PRIDE bouts, as well as some of MMA’s most memorable freak show tilts.

In addition to the show’s fight content, another plus about the program is that it’s hosted by the beautiful Kenda Perez, who recently spoke with RM Sports. When asked about how she landed the show, Perez stated:

“I got involved with the UFC when I entered the Maxim Hometown Hotties contest back in 2007, and I became a finalist. From there, the UFC saw a lot of on camera work that I was doing, and promotional things I was doing for them, and called me in for an interview for their new show, The Best of PRIDE, and it was a hit from there. I’ve been with them for about four years now; we’re in our third season of The Best of PRIDE, originally on SPIKE TV, now it’s on FOX Sports, FUEL TV. It’s doing awesome. We have a million views per episode and people love the show.”

And did she know much about PRIDE when she was initially offered the gig?

“I was definitely a fan of the UFC and of just mixed-martial-arts in general; I had been to a few shows. I didn’t know too much about PRIDE and where it came from, where it originated from, fighters that came from there, so when they sent me home with a huge truck full of DVDs I definitely caught on.”

It’s kind of crazy to think that the last PRIDE show took place over six years ago now. It was PRIDE 34 in April, 2007. You may recall that Thierry Rameau Sokoudjou knocked out Ricardo Arona that night in the opening round, just two months after he blew away Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in 23 seconds at PRIDE 33. Ah the memories.